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Webster 1913 Edition

Wake

Wake

,
Noun.
[Originally, an open space of water s[GREEK]rrounded by ice, and then, the passage cut through ice for a vessel, probably of Scand. origin; cf. Icel.
vök
a hole, opening in ice, Sw.
vak
, Dan.
vaage
, perhaps akin to E.
humid
.]
The track left by a vessel in the water; by extension, any track;
as, the
wake
of an army
.
This effect followed immediately in the
wake
of his earliest exertions.
De Quincey.
Several humbler persons . . . formed quite a procession in the dusty
wake
of his chariot wheels.
Thackeray.

Wake

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Waked
or
Woke
([GREEK]);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Waking
.]
[AS.
wacan
,
wacian
; akin to OFries.
waka
, OS.
wak[GREEK]n
, D.
waken
, G.
wachen
, OHG.
wahh[GREEK]n
, Icel.
vaka
, Sw.
vaken
, Dan.
vaage
, Goth.
wakan
, v. i., us
wakjan
, v. t., Skr.
vājay
to rouse, to impel. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK]. Cf.
Vigil
,
Wait
,
Verb.
I.
,
Watch
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
To be or to continue awake; to watch; not to sleep.
The father
waketh
for the daughter.
Ecclus. xlii. 9.
Though wisdom
wake
, suspicion sleeps.
Milton.
I can not think any time,
waking
or sleeping, without being sensible of it.
Locke.
2.
To sit up late festive purposes; to hold a night revel.
The king doth
wake
to-night, and takes his rouse,
Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels.
Shakespeare
3.
To be excited or roused from sleep; to awake; to be awakened; to cease to sleep; – often with up.
He infallibly
woke
up at the sound of the concluding doxology.
G. Eliot.
4.
To be exited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
Gentle airs due at their hour
To fan the earth now
waked
.
Milton.
Then
wake
, my soul, to high desires.
Keble.

Wake

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To rouse from sleep; to awake.
The angel . . . came again and
waked
me.
Zech. iv. 1.
2.
To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
“I shall waken all this company.”
Chaucer.
Lest fierce remembrance
wake
my sudden rage.
Milton.
Even Richard’s crusade
woke
little interest in his island realm.
J. R. Green.
3.
To bring to life again, as if from the sleep of death; to reanimate; to revive.
To second life
Waked
in the renovation of the just.
Milton.
4.
To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.

Wake

,
Noun.
1.
The act of waking, or being awaked; also, the state of being awake.
[Obs. or Poetic]
Making such difference 'twixt
wake
and sleep.
Shakespeare
Singing her flatteries to my morning
wake
.
Dryden.
2.
The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
The warlike
wakes
continued all the night,
And funeral games played at new returning light.
Dryden.
The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim,
Their merry
wakes
and pastimes keep.
Milton.
3.
Specifically:
(a)
(Ch. of Eng.)
An annual parish festival formerly held in commemoration of the dedication of a church. Originally, prayers were said on the evening preceding, and hymns were sung during the night, in the church; subsequently, these vigils were discontinued, and the day itself, often with succeeding days, was occupied in rural pastimes and exercises, attended by eating and drinking, often to excess.
Great solemnities were made in all churches, and great fairs and
wakes
throughout all England.
Ld. Berners.
And every village smokes at
wakes
with lusty cheer.
Drayton.
(b)
The sitting up of persons with a dead body, often attended with a degree of festivity, chiefly among the Irish.
“Blithe as shepherd at a wake.”
Cowper.
Wake play
,
the ceremonies and pastimes connected with a wake. See
Wake
,
Noun.
, 3
(b)
, above.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Wake

WAKE

,
Verb.
I.
[G. The primary sense is to stir, to rouse, to excite.]
1.
To be awake; to continue awake; to watch; not to sleep. Psalm 127.
The father waketh for the daughter.
Though wisdom wakes, suspicion sleeps.
I cannot think any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.
2.
To be excited or roused from sleep; to awake; to be awakened. He wakes at the slightest noise.
3.
To cease to sleep; to awake.
4.
To be quick; to be alive or active.
5.
To be excited from a torpid state; to be put in motion. The dormant powers of nature wake from their frosty slumbers.
Gentle airs to fan the earth now wakd.

WAKE

, v.t.
1.
To rouse from sleep.
The angel that talked with me, came again and waked me. Zechariah 4.
2.
To arouse; to excite; to put in motion or action.
Prepare war, wake up the mighty men. Joel 3.
[The use of up is common, but not necessary.]
To wake the soul by tender strokes of art.
3.
To bring to life again, as if from the sleep of death.
To second life wakd in the renovation of the just.

WAKE

,
Noun.
1.
The feast of the dedication of the church, formerly kept by watching all night.
2.
Vigils; state of forbearing sleep.
--Their merry wakes and pastimes keep.
3.
Act of waking. [Old song.]
Wake of a ship, the track it leaves in the water, formed by the meeting of the water, which rushes from each side to fill the space which the ship makes in passing through it.
To be in the wake of a ship, is to be in her track, or in a line with her keel.

Definition 2024

Wake

Wake

See also: wake

English

Proper noun

Wake

  1. A surname​.
    • 1838, The Law Journal Reports (volume 7, page 93)
      The testator, in this cause, devised and bequeathed an equal fifth part of his real estate, and of his residuary personal estate, to the plaintiff Mrs. Wake, the wife of the plaintiff Mr. Wake […]
  2. An island in Micronesia, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior and used solely by the United States Air Force.

Derived terms

wake

wake

See also: Wake

English

Verb

wake ‎(third-person singular simple present wakes, present participle waking, simple past woke or waked, past participle woken or waked)

  1. (intransitive) (often followed by up) To stop sleeping.
    I woke up at four o'clock this morning.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
      How long I slept I cannot tell, for I had nothing to guide me to the time, but woke at length, and found myself still in darkness.
  2. (transitive) (often followed by up) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep.
    • Bible, Zech. iv. 1
      The angel […] came again and waked me.
    The neighbour's car alarm woke me from a strange dream.
  3. (transitive, figuratively) To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
    • Milton
      lest fierce remembrance wake my sudden rage
    • J. R. Green
      Even Richard's crusade woke little interest in his island realm.
  4. (intransitive, figuratively) To be excited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
    • Milton
      Gentle airs due at their hour / To fan the earth now waked.
    • Keble
      Then wake, my soul, to high desires.
  5. To lay out a body prior to burial in order to allow family and friends to pay their last respects.
  6. To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.
  7. To be or remain awake; not to sleep.
    • Bible, Eccles. xlii. 9
      The father waketh for the daughter.
    • Milton
      Though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps.
    • John Locke
      I cannot think any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.
  8. (obsolete) To be alert; to keep watch
    • Command unto the guards that they diligently wake.
  9. (obsolete) To sit up late for festive purposes; to hold a night revel.
    • Shakespeare
      The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse, / Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels.
Related terms
Translations

Noun

wake ‎(plural wakes)

  1. (obsolete, poetic) The act of waking, or state of being awake.
    • Shakespeare
      Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep.
    • Dryden
      Singing her flatteries to my morning wake.
  2. The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
    • Dryden
      The warlike wakes continued all the night, / And funeral games played at new returning light.
    • Milton
      The wood nymphs, decked with daises trim, / Their merry wakes and pastimes keep.

Etymology 2

Old English wacu, from Proto-Germanic *wakō.

Noun

wake ‎(plural wakes)

  1. A period after a person's death before the body is buried, in some cultures accompanied by a party.
  2. (historical, Church of England) An annual parish festival formerly held in commemoration of the dedication of a church. Originally, prayers were said on the evening preceding, and hymns were sung during the night, in the church; subsequently, these vigils were discontinued, and the day itself, often with succeeding days, was occupied in rural pastimes and exercises, attended by eating and drinking.
    • Ld. Berners
      Great solemnities were made in all churches, and great fairs and wakes throughout all England.
    • Drayton
      And every village smokes at wakes with lusty cheer.
Synonyms
  • death watch
See also
Translations

Etymology 3

Probably Middle Low German, from Old Norse vǫk ‎(“a hole in the ice”) ( > Danish våge, Icelandic vök).

Noun

wake ‎(plural wakes)

  1. The path left behind a ship on the surface of the water.
  2. The turbulent air left behind a flying aircraft.
  3. (figuratively) The area behind something, typically a rapidly moving object.
    • De Quincey
      This effect followed immediately in the wake of his earliest exertions.
    • Thackeray
      Several humbler persons […] formed quite a procession in the dusty wake of his chariot wheels.
    • 2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport:
      Alex Song launched a long ball forward from the back and the winger took it down nicely on his chest. He cut across the penalty area from the right and after one of the three defenders in his wake failed to make a meaningful clearance, the Oxlade-Chamberlain was able to dispatch a low left-footed finish into the far corner.
Translations
See also

Etymology 4

Noun

wake ‎(plural wakes)

  1. A number of vultures assembled together.
See also

Related terms

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʋaː.kə/

Etymology

From Old Dutch *waka, from Proto-Germanic *wakō.

Noun

wake f ‎(plural waken)

  1. A wake (a gathering to remember a dead person).

Verb

wake

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of waken

Japanese

Romanization

wake

  1. rōmaji reading of わけ

Swahili

Noun

wake

  1. plural of mke

Adjective

wake

  1. M class inflected form of -ake.
  2. U class inflected form of -ake.
  3. Wa class inflected form of -ake.

Torres Strait Creole

Etymology

From Meriam wakey.

Noun

wake

  1. (eastern dialect) upper leg

Synonyms

  • dokap (western dialect)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈweɪk/
  • Homophone: wake

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